- This event has passed.
Sharing the Load: How to Empower and Leverage Diverse Expertise to Expand First Response
February 28 @ 12:00 pm - 1:30 pm
Join The Council of State Governments Justice Center on February 28 at 12 p.m. ET for a virtual event
discussing community responder programs and their impact across the nation. With support from the
Joyce Foundation, “Sharing the Load: How to Empower and Leverage Diverse Expertise to Expand First
Response” will feature remarks from Chief John Moon of Freedom House Ambulance Service and
Pittsburgh EMS, as well as a panel discussion from select members of the Expanding First Response
National Commission.
The panel of experts will speak about their efforts to enact community responder programs through
collaboration that brings together diverse voices and leaders. Many of these successful efforts will be
highlighted in the upcoming Expanding First Response National Commission report.
Freedom House Ambulance Service, led by Black community members in Pittsburgh, PA, pioneered
emergency response and community responder efforts in Pittsburgh and the nation as one of America’s
first emergency medical technicians. Chief Moon was also the first paramedic to perform an out-of-
hospital endotracheal intubation. His work, and the work of other leaders of Freedom House, succeeded
because they leveraged relationships within the community to expand first response in Pittsburgh using
community medical responders.